US-Egypt Cooperative Research: The Cenomanian-Turonian Paleoecology of Egypt

0217921KellerDescription：该奖项是为了表彰由新泽西州普林斯顿普林斯顿大学地球科学系Gerta Keller博士、埃及Assiut大学地质系Ahmed Kosa博士和埃及Aswan南谷大学地质系Abdel Aziz Tantawy博士共同开展的一项研究项目。他们计划研究埃及苏伊士湾和西奈半岛不同测深环境下的塞诺马尼亚-图罗尼亚(C-T)缺氧事件。研究人员计划在对苏伊士湾和西奈半岛一系列剖面的有机富碳相进行高分辨率研究的基础上，调查埃及和西奈半岛的这些不同的测深环境。这项研究将基于一种综合的多学科方法，包括沉积学、矿物学、地球化学、稳定碳和氧同位素以及微化石和大化石生物地层学。预计这些结果将提供关于不同环境下有机碳积累的性质、海洋浮游生物对这一危机的生物反应以及该区域的气候和海平面历史的关键信息。研究人员希望开发高分辨率的生物地层学记录，以便评估缺氧事件的时间，并与特提斯其他地方的黑色页岩沉积进行比较和关联。范围：C-T转变标志着伴随着全球海洋缺氧的重大温室效应变暖，这对海洋底栖和浮游生物不利。由此形成的富含有机质的相在全球范围内广泛存在，并在广泛的测深环境中出现，具有最大生油岩潜力的最厚的沉积物通常出现在低纬大西洋和地中海特提斯的外陆架环境中。东特提斯，特别是埃及，为研究从浅陆架到深盆地的不同测深环境中的C-T缺氧事件提供了理想的区域，正如在埃及苏伊士湾和西奈半岛的一系列缺氧盆地中所观察到的那样。该项目将汇集沉积学、矿物学、地层学、稳定同位素、地球化学和生物学方面的国际专家团队。与此同时，该项目将让美国和埃及的研究生和本科生参与实地和实验室调查，从而向他们介绍各种地球科学学科，并使他们有机会在一个更大的调查团队中和在外国工作。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室和地球科学部资助。

0217921KellerDescription:This award is for support of a joint research project by Dr. Gerta Keller, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, Dr. Ahmed Kassab, Geology Department at Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt and Dr. Abdel Aziz Tantawy, Geology Department at South Valley University, Aswan, Egypt. They plan to study the Cenomanian-Turonian (C-T) anoxic event across different bathymetric settings along the Gulf of Suez and Sinai in Egypt. The investigators plan to investigate these different bathymetric settings in Egypt and the Sinai based on a high-resolution study of the organic carbon-rich facies in a series of sections along the Gulf of Suez and in the Sinai. The study will be based on an integrated multidisciplinary approach that includes sedimentology, mineralogy, geochemistry, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes and microfossil and macrofossil biostratigraphies. The results are expected to yield critical information on the nature of organic carbon accumulation in variable settings, the biotic response of marine plankton to this crisis, and the climatic and sea level history of the region. The investigators expect to develop high-resolution biostratigraphic records that permit evaluation of the timing of the anoxic event and comparison and correlation with black shale deposition elsewhere in the Tethys.Scope:The C-T transition marks a major greenhouse warming accompanied by global ocean anoxia that was detrimental to marine benthic and planktic organisms. The resulting organic-rich facies are widespread globally and occur in a wide range of bathymetric settings with the thickest deposits with greatest source rock potential generally occur in outer-shelf environments of the low latitude Atlantic and Mediterranean Tethys. The eastern Tethys, and Egypt in particular, provides an ideal area for the study of the C-T anoxic event across different bathymetric settings from shallow shelf to deep basins, as observed in a series of dysoxic basins along the Gulf of Suez and Sinai in Egypt. This project will bring together an international team of experts in sedimentology, mineralogy, stratigraphy, stable isotopes, geochemistry and biology. At the same time the project will involve U.S. and Egyptian graduate and undergraduate students in the field and laboratory investigations and thereby introduce them to various Earth Science disciplines and expose them to working within a larger investigative team and in a foreign country. The project is funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Division of Earth Sciences.